It also comes at a time when the Chevrolet Camaro has become the top selling sporty car in California, and all three domestic companies are seeing their market shares up, as Toyota saw slippage even before the earthquake.

Jeremy Anwyl, who’s CEO of Santa Monica, California based Edmunds.com has seen attitudes changing in his part of the country, where it had long been considered “uncool” to buy a domestically branded vehicle. That’s not the case anymore.

“The automatic assumption that cars sourced from Detroit car companies are not competitive is really being challenged today,” Anwyl said.

It’s not something that happened overnight. Anwyl says perception often lags reality, and that domestically made products have been improving for years. It just takes a while for buyers to catch up.

The tipping point came with the introduction this past year of competitive small cars, Ford’s new Focus and Fiesta and the new Chevrolet Cruze. Chevy has an American made subcompact, the Sonic, coming in the fall.

George Peterson, who’s CEO of Tustin, California based AutoPacific.com, tells the LA times that the California market is undergoing a “generational shift,” which will continue as the domestic brands put out more new products that are appealing to younger buyers.

“Each time they bring out a new generation car they only get stronger,” he tells the paper.